Everyday Prayers for Joy

Gina Smith takes readers on a thirty-day journey to joy! The author recognizes that the most effective pursuit of joy is through Christ-centered prayer and praise. We have personally witnessed over twenty years of Gina’s sustained joy, even through dark and difficult seasons of life and motherhood. Read through this book and feel like one of the many who sit at Gina’s kitchen table, coffee mug in hand, crying out in prayer to the Source of all joy, Jesus!

As longtime friends, local pastors, and blessed recipients of Gina’s loving ministry, we are beyond excited for her impactful life to be shared with multitudes through this book! Not surprised, we knew it was only a matter of time before the Lord expanded her ministry, allowing her faithful diligence and constant pursuit of the Lord to truly shine and become contagious to a wider multitude of readers. Open your heart and get ready to receive our friend’s wisdom because it’s that of someone who has years of experience not only mothering her own children and sharing a beautiful love with her husband, but also opening her doors and heart to countless college students and young couples. Her constant yes to loving others is rare in this world, and it speaks to her heart’s surrender at Jesus’ feet. As you read, we pray that this love would flow from His heart, through her words, right into your spirit and situation.

Gina Smith is a woman of God’s Word. She studies it, seeks it out, and works hard to apply it in her daily life. She’s also a woman who loves sharing what she learns there with those who are walking just a few steps behind her. She has a heart for prayer and mentoring women in their walk with Jesus. That combination means she is worth listening to!

In the twenty-some years I have known Gina, her walk with God has been a constant example and encouragement. God’s call into deep valleys grew in her a steadfast dependence on His grace and a deep love for Christ and His people. Her humble, compassionate voice teaches us to allow God’s Word to shape our souls as we fight for joy on our knees, trusting that as He meets our needs with Himself, He will give us fullness of joy.

Gina Smith is the kind of woman you’d meet for coffee and leave with a lifetime friend. I know because that happened to me. I’ve had the privilege of knowing Gina since we were young adults. She is warm, engaging, wise, full of integrity, and has a wonderful sense of humor. She faithfully follows after God and has a passion to encourage women in their faith journey. I know you’ll be blessed by her words.

I have often remembered lessons I’ve seen lived by the Smiths. While I served overseas as a missionary, Gina’s devotions hugged me from across the globe with her tangible, transparent transcriptions of God’s Spirit working out His salvation and sanctification in her life. I want to grow ultimately like Christ, but in this life, I’d add, like Gina, from glory to glory until we are before Him with unveiled face.

Gina consistently helps me look at the world, and think through the situations I encounter, through the lens of the gospel. I listen to her because I know this commitment of hers to the Word of God is hard-worn. She doesn’t give advice lightly. Her guidance comes from her own experience of having to fight for biblical joy when the world presses in. Those are really the kind of people I like to listen to most…the ones who have refused to let go of Jesus no matter what He allows in their lives. You’ll find that kind of attitude, along with a friend who truly desires to serve you, inside Everyday Prayers for Joy.

Honesty. It’s what we need in a devotional. We don’t need fluffy words and cute sayings; we need to hear from someone who doesn’t pretend to be anything other than who she is, broken and imperfect, but redeemed and beautiful, with a story that will draw you in and make you want to know the Lord in a deeper way. We need someone like Gina Smith, who isn’t afraid to give us a glimpse into the good, bad, and ugly parts of her life. Gina reminds us finding joy can be a struggle and Jesus knows that, but with her insightful words and stories, she gives us the tools to navigate life’s messy, gut-wrenching parts. Everyday Prayers for Joy is loaded with deeply honest and personal revelations, along with biblical truth and practical ways to live it out. This is one devotional you will come back to again and again.